Video of religious congregation in Uttar Pradesh shared as 2024 farmers’ protest

What is the claim?

A video depicting a massive crowd spilling onto the road from a venue, disrupting traffic, is circulating on social media, purportedly showing scenes from the ongoing farmers' protest.

This footage has been widely shared across social media in several Indian regional languages, including Assamese, Tamil, Malayalam, and English, falsely associating it with the farmers' protest. Some archived posts can be found here, here, and here. 

A caption of a Facebook reel video, which has been shared over 50 times, translates to: “Everyone has the right to protest. Why has the government taken stern steps to stop the farmers from protesting? The court criticizes the government. Sending best wishes to the farmers' protest. May the farmers prevail.”

Screenshots of social media posts claiming that the video shows 2024 farmers' protests. (Source: Screenshots/X/Facebook/Altered by Logically Facts)

What did we find?

Conducting a reverse image search with keyframes from the viral video led us to a YouTube Short uploaded on August 11, 2023, by ‘Traveller Sachin,’ with the caption, “Lakho Ki Bheed Sadak Par Kyo A Gayi #narayansakarhari #bhakti #sakarhari #shorts #short #trending."

Further review of this channel's content uncovered a six-minute video displaying similar scenes at the outset. The video pinpointed the event's location in Tundla, a town within Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district, and attributed the gathering to followers of a spiritual leader named ‘Narayan Sakar Hari.’

The vlogger, Sachin, described the event in the viral video as ‘Satya ke Sath - Mangal Diwas’, which occurred in February 2023 in Tundla. At the 2:09 mark, the video shows the venue without the massive crowd or traffic disruption.

Comparison between screenshots of the viral video and the YouTube video by Traveller Sachin. (Source: Screenshots/Facebook/YouTube/Altered by Logically Facts)

Inside footage of the venue, featuring ongoing preparations, was also included in the video. At the 5:48 mark, individuals are seen hanging a banner bearing ‘Narayan Sakar Hari’s’ name, previously noted in the YouTube Short's hashtags and video caption. 

Screenshot from the video posted by Traveller Sachin's YouTube channel. (Source: Screenshot/YouTube/Altered by Logically Facts)

Logically Facts contacted Sachin, who confirmed that the video was indeed from the Tundla event associated with Narayan Sakar Hari, and it had no links to any farmers’ protests, whether ongoing or past.

Reviewing similar content from other YouTube channels related to the Tundla event corroborated our findings.

Additionally, we successfully geolocated the venue shown in the viral video to Tundla in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozpur district. This was confirmed through visible advertisements and other identifiable elements in the vicinity of the venue, establishing its location as Tundla.
 

Comparison between screenshots from the viral video and Google Maps. (Source: Screenshots/Facebook/Google Maps/Altered by Logically Facts)

The verdict

The video in question stems from a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Tundla in February 2023 and has no connection to the farmers' protests. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.